-Adventures with Crypto-Currencies

[mindoculus]

Bitcoins, Litecoins, Peercoins, Dogecoins ? Anyone ? What do you think of people creating benjamins out of digital ones and zeros ? Have you mined any coins ? Bought any ? Used any ?

I noticed Overstock.com will soon accept Bitcoins. The number of merchants accepting one form of crypto-currency or another is growing fast, which means their practicality will trinkle down to more and more people. There are issues and concerns but that’s natural to any new currency venture. Historically its moving faster in implementation and acceptance than paper currency.

Benefits – international, stateless, little if any bureaucracy, de-centralized, uber-level of privacy.

Downside – volatile price swings, small merchant base, stateless.  Gov’ts afford regulations and protections that are not extended to cryptos as either currency or investment options.

China recently balked at the acceptance of Bitcoin as something other than a highly speculative investment. That sent the price of Bitcoin down from 1250.00 to 450.00 in the matter of days. But it did bounce back.

[kmiller8]

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=53106.0

[SpAmRaY]

[nubbinator]

Downside – volatile price swings, small merchant base, stateless.  Gov’ts afford regulations and protections that are not extended to cryptos as either currency or investment options.

Don't forget that it also heightens the free rider problem.  You have people who actively try to avoid any taxes through the use of cryptocurrency, but use services that make use of tax money, often within those transaction that they're making with cryptocurrency.

If you want to avoid taxes through the use of cryptocurrency, go make your own happy little anarchic county.  Otherwise make it taxable.

[armia741]

There are issues and concerns but that’s natural to any new currency venture. Historically its moving faster in implementation and acceptance than paper currency.